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I had no idea what she was talking about. It seemed like she was being secretive for absolutely no reason. I thought back to how she had acted right before she sent me on that singles cruise, the one where I ended up meeting Beau in the first place. Was this all a trick? Was she sending me away again?
“Lucy, I would prefer it if you could tell me what this is concerning,” I said, trying once again to stand up for myself in a way I normally wouldn’t. “I’m not doing another cruise.”
“Listen, Georgia, I promise you I’m not going to send you packing again, okay? It’s just something that’s difficult for me to talk about over the phone.” Lucy sounded a bit desperate, so I decided not to push it anymore. I would’ve at least liked to have known what the topic of discussion had to do with. Was she seeing someone serious? Was she thinking of moving away? Was she going to take a new job? I had no way of knowing.
“Okay. I’ll see you in an hour,” I told her. We both said goodbye, and I went into the other room to get dressed.
I didn’t own a lot of fancy dresses, but I was able to find something. As I got dressed in a little black number, I couldn’t help but think about the clothes I’d worn when I was with Beau. The outfit I’d worn to the luau wouldn’t work for this restaurant. I wished I would’ve had a chance to go to more fancy places with him.
“God, I miss you, Beau,” I mumbled, but I pulled my mind away from those thoughts. I needed to let it go. If he missed me, too, he would’ve called me by now.
In my dress, I worked on my hair and makeup, thinking about whether or not I could ask Lucy to call him. That was stupid. It sounded like something middle school kids with crushes would do. But I could ask her to call him just to see if he got home okay. I’d given her his number when I left town, just in case she needed it in an emergency, so it would be easy for her to do it.
Shaking my head, I told myself that was silly. If I decided to talk to him, I would take care of it myself. “What would it hurt to send him a text asking if he got home okay?” I asked myself aloud. I didn’t have an answer for that, but I also felt awkward even contacting him first. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so quick to leave. If I had talked it over with him, told him what he’d said, and asked him how he felt about moving on after Kaylee and his child had died, I might have gotten answers that would make me happy instead of living in misery for the last few days.
But then again, I also could’ve found out that he never planned on marrying again and didn’t want children. Or maybe he would’ve said that he did think he wanted to get married when he found the right woman—and that woman wasn’t me.
It didn’t matter. I hadn’t had those conversations, and bringing them up now would just be awkward. I needed to leave it be.
Clipping my hair up on the back of my head, I slipped some earrings in and put on a necklace. I looked pretty good, I thought. It was sometimes hard for me to go out with Lucy because she was so petite and beautiful, kind of like a little fairy. But being with someone as good-looking as Beau had given me some confidence in my skin. Looking in the mirror, I saw some things I might wanna change, but overall, I was happy to be me.
On my way out, I spotted my laptop where I’d set it on the couch. I had time to get to the restaurant on time if I left right now, but I hadn’t ever actually looked up Beau’s account like I’d thought about doing before Lucy had called.
With a deep breath, I picked up my laptop and typed in Beau’s name. His social media accounts, as well as some articles in various newspapers about him, his work, and his charitable contributions, popped up. I’d already read all of those and had been pleasantly surprised to know how he took care of people who lived in the towns where his homes were located. He was involved in lots of charities in Sitka as well.
I skipped over all of that and took a look at his profile on my favorite social media site. Nothing new was posted, just his pictures from before, but it was nice just to see his handsome, smiling face. Sighing, I set the laptop down, closing it, and shaking my head. I had to figure out a way to stop living in the past. It was time to accept my decision and move on with my life.
Resolved not to let the situation with Beau continue to consume me, I grabbed my bag, made sure I had my wallet, and headed out, locking the door but keeping my keys in my hand. I lived in a safe neighborhood, but it was best to be safe rather than sorry.
In my car, I took a moment to make sure I had the right restaurant pulled up on my phone, then headed out. I was catching the tail end of rush hour, but it wasn’t that bad. Still, when I got stuck in a long line of cars that was hardly moving, it reminded me of why I never wanted to be one of those people who had to drive in to go to an office for work every day.
Traffic ended up being slightly worse than both me and my phone app expected. By the time I pulled into the restaurant parking lot, I was close to being late. It wasn’t like me to be running behind, despite my inability to get back to the cruise ship on time. Rather than wasting more time sending a text to Lucy, I decided to just head in and ask her to forgive me. She was usually a bit late herself, but with my luck, this would be the one time she got to our meeting location on time.
Walking into the restaurant, I realized that this place was even more upscale than I thought it would be. Soft, romantic music played in the background as men in suits escorted women in fancy gowns to the waiting area or to their tables. The dining area was decorated with white tablecloths, soft candlelight, and red roses. It was a lovely place, and I suddenly felt slightly underdressed.
Stepping up to the hostess station, I waited for her to look up at me. “Hi,” I said. “I’m here to meet my friend Lu—”
“Georgia?”
I froze, no longer able to speak. Hearing my name spoken over my shoulder in a familiar voice, but not Lucy’s, had my heart stopping for a moment.
Slowly, I turned around, my eyes locking on a familiar pair. “Beau?”
37
BEAU
Georgia looked amazing. I’d never seen her look so lovely in all of my life. I’d watched her come into the restaurant, watched her look around, seen the small insecurities begin to show themselves between her eyebrows, but noticed she’d gotten herself back together right before she began to speak to the hostess.
“Georgia?”
The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she slowly turned and looked at me, her soft brown eyes meeting mine. My stomach twisted into a knot as I braced myself to hear what she would have to say to me.
“Beau?” It was clear she was shocked to see me.
I smiled, lifting a hand.
“What in the world are you doing here?” she asked.
